« March 9, 2008 - March 15, 2008 | Main | March 23, 2008 - March 29, 2008 »

Thursday, March 20, 2008

E, Meet W.

175eels011008

Mark “E” Everett, frontman of The Eels, is desperate to bury the hatchet with George W. Bush, frontman of the USA, so he invited him to come check out the band’s DC show:

Mr. President,

My name is Mark Oliver Everett. I am the singer in an American rock band called EELS You may recall using our album "Daisies of the Galaxy" as an example during your campaign for the presidency in 2000 The album was supposed to be a bad example for the kids of America. Something about inappropriate language and messages. You even had my lyrics on your website. lt was quite an ordeal I even wrote about it in my new book, Things The Grandchildren Should Know (coming out this fall in the U.S. - it's already a bestseller in England, where it just came out!)

Mr. President, I know that you're a Christian, and Christ taught forgiveness. So in the spirit of forgiveness and fence-mending, I'd like to let bygones be bygones and invite you and the First Lady to attend our Washington, DC concert, March 29th. lt's right down the road from you at the Sixth & Historic Synagogue. lt's a really cool place for concerts. lf you're more comfortable at a different house of worship, we're also doing concerts at churches in Philadelphia and New Haven the nights before and after the DC show. In the name of tolerance, we are trying to represent many faiths on this tour.

lf you come to the show, I would be happy to give you complimentary copies of our brand new best of and rarities CDs, "Meet The EELS" and "Useless Trinkets" (which feature some of the very tracks your campaign used as bad examples for our country's youth) that i will even be happy to autograph for you. These tracks can be loaded onto your Presidential iPod as well. lf you're busy, I understand, but I wanted to put it out there: Let's forgive and forget. lt's the only way to change the world.

Thank you for your time, Mr. President.

Sincerely,
E

Do you think that the President would enjoy The Eels live? Who would you send the President to go see?

Chart Rundown

175delthefunkyeleventh

New entries into the Billboard 200 this week included Del The Funky Homosapien's latest album Eleventh Hour which debuted at #122, and Snoop Dogg's Ego Trippin' which landed at #3. MGMT's Oracular Spectacular re-entered the charts on a wave of SXSW buzz at #170. Meanwhile the New Artist Albums chart saw new entries from Why, Greg Laswell and Jaymay.

Billboard 200:

  • #3 Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin' [136,943]
  • #24 Various Artists - Juno OST [20,001 this week, down 18.1%, 544,597 to date]
  • #25 Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend [19,668 this week, up 1.9%, 125,199 to date]
  • #26 Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Once  [19,186 this week, down 24.5%, 473,600 to date]
  • #53 Radiohead - In Rainbows [12,321 this week, down 6.9%, 421,382 to date]
  • #117 Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash [6,193 this week, down 38.7%, 17,264 to date]
  • #122 Del The Funky Homosapien - Eleventh Hour [5,985]
  • #152 Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks [4,662 this week, down 1.6%, 76,772 to date]
  • #170 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular [4,195 this week, up 16.1%, 34,355 to date]

New Artist Albums (artists who've never had a release in the top 100 of the Billboard 200):

  • #1 Del The Funky Homosapien - Eleventh Hour [5,985]
  • #3 MGMT - Oracular Spectacular [4,195 this week, up 16.1%, 34,355 to date]
  • #7 Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust [3,319 this week, down 18.4%, 19,080 to date]
  • #8 Bon Iver - For Emma Forever Ago [3,278 this week, up 27.7%, 12,996 to date]
  • #11 Gutter Twins - Saturnalia [2,628 this week, down 57.3%, 8,826 to date]
  • #20 Yael Naim - Yael Naim [2,271 this week, up 34.7%, 23,503 to date]
  • #28 Why - Alopecia [1,926]
  • #60 Greg Laswell - How The Day Sounds [1,105]
  • #81 Jaymay - Autumn Fallin' [1,896]
  • #100 Bob Mould - District Line [809 this week, down 4.4%, 10,233 to date]

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Do You Want To Buy Kurt’s Converse?

175kurtconverse031808

Converse have announced plans to release a new limited edition series of shoes inspired by late-Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, each decorated with drawings and writing from his posthumously released journals. The line will include Converse High Tops and rather more morbidly a pair of black One Tops, the shoes Cobain was wearing when he committed suicide in 1994.

In a press release, Converse said: "To honor Cobain, in May, Converse will debut their Kurt Cobain collection of shoes featuring artwork and scribbles borrowed from Cobain's personal notebooks.

You may remember that Doc Martens had their wrists slapped last year for using Cobain’s likeness without Courtney Love’s permission, with Love dubbing the ads “outrageous.”

So what do you think? Is this exploiting Cobain for a quick buck or a fitting tribute to a man who wore Converse for much of his professional life.

And just for kicks (pun intended) here’s some classic Converse wearin’ Nirvana footage:

Session Round-Up

175raveonettes021405

The Raveonettes will be getting their Bookery on this week for Daytrotter, NPR had a meeting with MGMT, The Current caught up with Blitzen Trapper at SXSW and WOXY invited the delicious-sounding The Chocolate Horse into their lounge.

@ Daytrotter

@ NPR's World Cafe

@ MPR's The Current

@ WOXY

Monday, March 17, 2008

Radio On The TV

175guttertwins

It's an excellent post-SXSW week of Radio On The TV with The Gutter Twins and The Cribs on Letterman, Stars on Conan and Lupe Fiasco on the Late Late Show.

Monday, March 17

David Letterman: Bell X1
Jay Leno: the Bravery
Conan O'Brien: Billy Bragg

Tuesday, March 18
David Letterman: the Cribs
Conan O'Brien: Stars

Wednesday, March 19
David Letterman: Gutter Twins

Thursday, March 20
Jay Leno: Nada Surf
Late Late Show: Ringo Starr
Conan O'Brien: Yael Naim

Friday, March 21

Late Late Show: Lupe Fiasco

Out This Week

Gn_2

Great Northern - Sleepy Eepee

Switches_2

Switches - Lay Down The Law

Dvka

DeVotchKa - A Mad and Faithful Telling

Byop

Be Your Own Pet - Get Awkward

The_kills

The Kills - Midnight Boom

Shehim

She & Him - Volume One

Atal

As Tall As Lions - Into The Flood

Latest issues

  • Flight of the Conchords Take On America
  • Portishead: Sour Times Are Here Again

FMA

  • title

Friends